Tanger putting $3 million into West Ocean City outlets

The West Ocean City Factory Outlets are being renovated by new owners, Tanger Outlets. / Laura Emmons/Gannett/Salisbury (Md.) Daily Times

Written by BRIAN SHANE Gannett/Salisbury (Md.) Daily Times

Tanger Outlets, the new owner of the Ocean City (Md.) Factory Outlets, is nearing completion of a $3 million cosmetic renovation that will bring its appearance more in line with the company’s Rehoboth Beach shopping centers.

 Renovations include wrapping support poles with ornate brick and siding, new roofs and a colorful paint job. The project is scheduled to be done May 23, according to Carl Close, the head of Tanger’s construction division.

Tanger announced in July it was acquiring the West Ocean City outlets from Baltimore-based The Cordish Company. The deal was for $125.8 million in cash and the assumption of $73.5 million in debt, and included an Atlantic City, N.J. shopping center, according to Tanger.

The 200,000-square-foot property has about 40 retailers and eateries, including Gap, Pac Sun, Jos. A. Bank and Tommy Hilfiger, among others.

Close said several new tenants are in the works, the names of which he isn’t allowed to disclose.
Baltimore-based apparel company Under Armour, which already has an outlet store in Rehoboth Beach, will be opening a new location in West Ocean City. The 6,000 square foot store is scheduled to open June 28, according to contractors at the site.

Shoppers are already noticing the project.

“It looks good -- it’s a changed look,” said Ardella Gray, of Ocean City, arriving at the outlets by bus.
“Hopefully it’ll bring more people. The foreigners that come in, they already know about the outlets in Delaware when they get here, and they head up there. So hopefully this will bring more of them over here.”

Joe and Sandy Jones, a husband and wife visiting from the upstate New York town of Marcy, said they’re avid shoppers of the Rehoboth outlets when they visit the beach area twice a year.

“We’re pretty familiar with Tanger, and they seem to do a first-class job on a lot of things,” Joe Jones said. “We were there yesterday -- the bathrooms are all tiled and beautiful. Like at home. They must know what they’re doing from a business model standpoint.”

The West Ocean City outlets “did look a little more dated than the [Rehoboth] one,” Sandy Jones said. “The other one’s perfect, and I think this one’s probably going to be as nice when they get done.”

Kim Brady, a manager at Original Smith Island Cake Co., said she believes the upgraded look will bring in more business. She’s also heard that some higher-end retailers will be moving in.

“It’s going to be exactly like Rehoboth,” she said. “And it’s definitely going to help to keep people in Maryland, as opposed to going to Rehoboth. Maybe because of gas prices they’ll stay here instead of going there and saving on the taxes.”